Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is good to see the Ceann Comhairle back - fair play to him. I have listened to what the Members have said, and I will read from a number of papers. An article in the Irish Examinerrecently stated, "Low wages, long hours, and insecure working conditions are pushing the largely female workforce out of the caring industry". People who spoke to the paper said there was nothing complex about the crisis with one saying, "Change would have to mean the agencies paying more to the carers, and better conditions for the healthcare workers and more attention to the families".

A number of months ago there was reference in The Irish Timesto carers as gig workers. An interdepartmental group on economic migration determines which sectors can tap non-EU workers and is chaired by the Department of the Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar. It concluded there was no labour shortage in the sector. It instead found that the issue was the terms and conditions home care groups are offering.

The Minister of State mentioned budgets and money. We have heard from people working in the system that they are not being paid and the money is going somewhere else. We know privatisation is for profit, not for care. I raised the issue of home carers in a Topical Issue debate a number of weeks ago. It was horrific. Additional hours had been approved but were not granted because there was nobody there to do the work. In the meantime, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, discussed incontinence pants. People were rationing them to two a day for a 93-year old woman who cannot get home care help. The family is providing care. The knock-on effect is stress on families. The whole system breaks down and people lose faith in everything.

I again refer to budgets. Let us start hiring and paying our own. The minute we start outsourcing to private companies and moving money out we destroy it. We can hear from witness statements that people have no faith in the system. My mother was a carer for years. She went above and beyond, which most do, for a pittance. That is what we have to address. We have to be fair because if we do not pay and treat people properly they will not work in the service.

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